Locals await B.Braun’s decision on 2nd Daytona plant

Having given their best shot, local economic development officials remain hopeful that B.Braun will decide to build a second manufacturing plant in Daytona Beach.

That decision could come as early as this month, said Kent Sharples, president of the CEO Business Alliance.

“When I last spoke with Bruce (Heugel, B.Braun executive vice president), he said he would like to come back in October to make a formal announcement,” said Sharples.

The Volusia County Council on Sept. 18 approved its portion of an economic incentive package to entice the German medical products maker to build a second manufacturing plant here on land it recently acquired immediately east of its existing plant at 1845 Mason Ave.

The rest of the incentives would come from the state, which approved its portion of the deal in early September.

Those incentives would only be received by B.Braun if it builds the second plant and makes good on a pledge to create 100 more jobs that pay well above the current Volusia County average for annual wages.

The second plant would represent an additional $100 million capital investment in the area and the creation of 100 more jobs for B.Braun.

The company recently completed a $100 million expansion of its existing plant as well as the completion earlier this year of a $40 million, 400,000-square-foot distribution center on the east side of Clyde Morris Boulevard, roughly a half-mile south of LPGA Boulevard.

In a phone interview last month, Heugel said “it’s been an incredible journey in Volusia County that started when we acquired the (former) Gambro/Baxter facility (on Mason). I knew there were possibilities here.